Careers for Characters

Well, that month went by fast, and here we are in November, considering "the right career for your characters."  So, how do you build a career for your cast list?

In my Regency romances, careers as we understand them did not exist for most of my heroines, but they were trained from a young age to expect to manage a household and raise a family. Today, we consider that a career rather than an expectation. However, my leading ladies all had a streak of independence and wanted more than being lady of the manor.

Emmaline followed in her father’s footsteps and became a spy in the Peninsular Wars. Juliana learnt to sword fight because she didn’t want her brother to have all the fun, and Olivia loved books and knew her way around libraries. One of my Regency belles, Hester, was an herbalist and healer. Charlotte learnt map-making skills from her father and millinery from her mother. Phoebe grew up on a farm and became a competent horsewoman. Tilly, my Brides of Banff Springs heroine, became a chambermaid at the famous Banff Springs Hotel. The heroine of my new cosy mystery series is a sixty-six-year-old retired primary school headmistress.

I don’t recall having to create a career for any of them, as they all evolved organically. Charlotte was the only one who gave me any trouble. As I saw it, the story was that Charlotte would be a lady’s companion in a quiet country home. I thought she might become the vicar’s wife, very genteel and respectable, but Charlotte wanted adventure, so that was what she had, and then some. It took me a while to figure out a connection between spying and map-making, smuggling and millinery, but once I built her backstory, it came together quite quickly.

When we start writing, we are encouraged to write what we know. I knew very little about any skills my heroines needed other than using herbs and horseman(woman)ship. I’ve been around horses since

Those were the days.

I was five years old and became interested in herbalism at age nineteen. My kids used to take one look at my preparations and grumble that ‘Mum’s doing her witchy thing again.’ Spying during the Napoleonic Wars was rife, and the Duke of Wellington was rumoured to have a network of some four thousand spies. I have always liked maps, so it wasn’t too hard to work that theme into Charlotte’s story. The millinery, not so much. I don’t know how many YouTube videos I watched on sword fighting, but that grew to a new level when I attended some fencing classes.

As the author, you can choose any career for your character, but they will tell you what they like and don’t like, what they can and can’t do, and what they might want to learn. Authors may use their own experiences of a career, as John Grisham did with his legal thrillers, or let their imaginations run wild as J.K. Rowling did with Harry Potter. With judicious research, you can build careers for your characters about which you, the author, know nothing or a little. Dick Francis, the author of over forty horse-racing-related thrillers, had many different careers for his characters, from glassmaking to art, horse transport to meteorologist, a barrister to a movie star playing detectives on the big screen.

Once an author has the career background, has done the research, and has begun writing, what emerges is as authentic as possible. However, I hope none of my future characters wants to climb mountains or be a trapeze artist, as I have no head for heights. Now, I will drop in on my fellow bloggers and see their take on the subject.

  

Helena Fairfax  http://www.helenafairfax.com/blog

Anne Stenhouse  http://annestenhousenovelist.wordpress.com

Connie Vines  http://mizging.blogspot.com/

Dr. Bob Rich   https://wp.me/p3Xihq-3m7

Diane Bator  https://escapewithawriter.wordpress.com/

Marci Baun  http://www.marcibaun.com/blog/

Skye Taylor http://www.skye-writer.com/blogging_by_the_sea

 

 

Indie or Not?

The topic for this month is -  Indie or Not? Some of us have tried both. Some are one or the other. What do you like about being traditionally published? What do you like about being an Indie or a contrast if you've done both?

My first experience of Indie publishing was also my last. However, I have to say that if it had not been for that first foray into the great unknown world of Indie publishing, I might not have been published at all. Few people knew about self-publishing back then, circa 2010. Articles on self-publishing cropped up in trade magazines and nascent online forums, but I honestly believe my writing group was way ahead of the game.

Spearheaded by our president, who said she could write a book with anyone, we created a town, characters, and plot lines. And so the Bandit Creek project began. We could ‘borrow’ anyone’s characters, and each story had to include the mysterious character, Jack. The project covered all genres to accommodate such a diverse group of writers. Our fictitious western town was founded in 1867 after a gold strike and ran through to the present day, so the project covered all genres to accommodate such a diverse group of writers. From historical to sweet romance, paranormal and mystery, we published two books every month, on the first and fifteenth, for twelve months.

My book was due to come out on the March 15th, 2012. I had uploaded it to Amazon Kindle, following their instructions (as I thought), but every time I checked it, the title page was missing, or the formatting had shifted. I was at the end of my limited experience, and it showed. I remember printing out the instructions, ticking off each item as I addressed it, and double-checking before I clicked ‘publish.’ My publication date drew nearer. I had nightmares and sweated buckets, but thanks to another group member helping me with my upload, I did not miss my deadline.

The Bandit Creek project served many of us well, some not so much. Several writers dropped out altogether after the fact. Some, like myself, kept writing. I didn’t want to repeat what, to me, was a stressful process, so I looked for a traditional publisher when my next book, a Regency romance, was completed. My first attempt at signing on with an agent was short-lived. I met her at a writers’ conference, and after my pitch, she invited me to send her the full manuscript, which I did. It came back with a ‘love, love, love your writing’ comment, but she suggested I add a strong sub-plot and re-submit. As encouraging as that was, six months had passed by the time I did that (I am not a fast writer) and resubmitted. In the first instance, she responded two weeks after my submission; the second time, I received a thank you note from her assistant the day following my submission, with a comment that the agent ‘could not connect with my writing.’ Go figure.

I tidied up the manuscript, and after receiving a positive response to a query letter I sent to an editor at Kensington Press in New York, I sent it off again. I received a gushing response from the entry editor, who said that as far as he was concerned, it was publication-ready, and he was sending it ‘upstairs.’ I took that to mean it was going on to a more experienced editor. Then Hurricane Sandy hit, shutting New York City down for weeks.

Now, not being a spring chicken, I was not prepared to wait for months, maybe a year or more, and watch another birthday or two come around before knowing if Kensington Press would say yea or nay, so I found another publisher. After listening to my pitch, she asked if I would send the book to her. I did. Three days later, I was offered publication. Ten days later, the book became available as an Amazon Kindle e-book, and I’ve been with that publisher ever since.

Several of my writer friends are totally self-published. They love working with a cover artist, finding editors, uploading their manuscripts, and being almost fully reimbursed for their efforts. They can check their Kindle account and see how their sales are progressing or where their books are being sold. They like being in the captain’s chair and having total control.

But, speaking for myself, I’m not so adventurous and don’t mind paying a percentage of my sales to have all that work done for me. Had I been younger when I started writing and publishing, I’m not sure what my attitude would have been. Right now, I’m happy to stick with what I know best: the writing. I wonder what my Round Robin colleagues will have to say.

Connie Vines  http://mizging.blogspot.com/

Bob Rich  https://wp.me/p3Xihq-3l0

Diane Bator https://escapewithawriter.wordpress.com/

Skye Taylor http://www.skye-writer.com/blogging_by_the_sea

 

 

Changing Horses

 Here we go with September’s Round Robin topic. This month's blog will be about the wisdom and experience of trying a new genre.

This topic couldn’t have come at a more appropriate time because I am about to start writing a cozy mystery series after having written ten historical romance novels and three contemporary western romances.

So why change horses in mid-stream? Much sage advice has been written about whether an author should change genres. Although I have enjoyed every bored lord and feisty heroine in my historical romances and sexy ranchers and their ladies in my contemporary westerns, my go-to reading for light relief has always been mysteries and, more recently, cozy mysteries.  

Part of building an author brand is promising your readers sure-fire content and delivering it, so for an author, changing genres might be the kiss of death as there is a chance of losing readers. In the past, it was almost a must-do to have a pen name for a separate genre—think Nora Roberts writing mysteries as J.D. Robb—which might mean a workload that would daunt many authors. Two names might require two websites, newsletters, e-mail addresses or whatever media platform the author prefers.

However, this isn’t always the case. Jude Devereux writes historical romance with a side of paranormal and mystery under her name. Carolyn Brown and Alyssa Cole both write historical and contemporary romances as their selves. In these instances, and I’m sure there are many more, the author is the brand. If readers like your work, I think they will follow you out of curiosity, if nothing else.

Whether romance, paranormal, YA, sci-fi and more, every story contains the who, what, why, where, and when writing principle of journalism, which carries over into all fiction. Who are the leading characters? What are they doing, and more precisely what is being done to whom? Why is it being done? Where does that old road lead, or where will the spaceship land? When did XYZ become a vampire, or did ABC know FGH was a werewolf?

The classic cozy mystery format is that a body is found, often on the first page but usually in the first chapter, an amateur sleuth investigates and reveals the murderer. It sounds simple, but starting with the problem is like working backwards compared to my previous books. What I like most about cozy mysteries is that there is no bloody description of gunshot or knife wounds, or other causes of death. Sometimes, there is no description at all, only the information that someone has been found dead. This cuts out much research into weapons and the feasible wounds they produce—likewise, any police or legal protocols. A cozy mystery is not a police procedural, so there is little need for more than a detective on hand or a detective inspector and his sergeant, as in the Midsomer Murders TV series.

I have several more historical romances that I could write about, but thankfully, my publisher has accepted my proposal for three cozy mysteries. I have my characters, victims, and plots, and I am itching to begin writing. It remains to be seen if my readers will enjoy them. I could lose some, but on the other hand, I could gain a new following. Time will tell.  

Now, I will see what my fellow bloggers have to say.

Bob Rich at https://wp.me/p3Xihq-3jJ 

Anne Stenhouse http://annestenhousenovelist.wordpress.com

Connie Vines http://mizging.blogspot.com/

Skye Taylor http://www.skye-writer.com/blogging_by_the_sea

The Dreaded Information Dump and How to Avoid It.

  

Here we are in August already. How did that happen? This month's Round Robin blog concerns the dreaded “Info Dump” and what tactics we use to ensure the reader knows what the reader needs to know without the big information dump.  

The problem with information dumping, literally giving too much information at once, is that it slows the story's pace and will likely bore readers. It is often telling when the author could be showing their story by creating active characters and events. An author could also be accused of lazy writing because it’s frequently easier to tell than to find the right combination of words to paint a picture.

So, how do thoughtful writers work around this? I used to be a total pantser. I had my characters and a storyline, and I sat down and wrote, usually editing the last chapter before starting the next one. The more I wrote, the more I found that this method often created a sagging middle, so I plotted a little to avoid that.

My method now is a combination of both. I have always created a character chart for my primary and secondary characters, showing their physical details, likes and dislikes, hopes and fears. Now, I spend more time plotting the story arc to see what curveballs I can throw their way at relevant points. An instance of enhancing fear is Indiana Jones getting into a plane and finding the pilot’s pet snake, Reggie, and yelling, “I hate snakes, Jock.”

I follow the three-act structure for novel writing but concentrate on pinch points, those milestones where you can increase the conflict and tension. This can frequently be achieved by using dialogue. Once I have plotted the arc of my story, I throw in suitable problems for the genre I’m writing, and then I sit down and write the first draft as it comes, warts and all. That’s what first drafts are for. It is one way of getting everything in my head onto the page, good, bad, or indifferent. I believe Nora Roberts said you can’t edit a blank page, so the editing begins once that first draft is done.

Have I used too much description of each character's physical looks or what they wear? What they look like is less important than what they do. Have I waxed long and lyrical in describing the setting? That is all good in a literary work but not so much in popular fiction. Readers are usually pretty smart, so they don’t need every detail, more a snippet to create a mental image or a question that keeps them turning the pages.

Long paragraphs or lines of dialogue are another area I go through with a fine-toothed comb. In that paragraph, can I lose at least ten words? This is often easy when eliminating the dreaded filler or crutch words. In my last novel, apart from the had’s and was’s and numerous other fillers, my crutch word was really. Really? Indeed. We are also told that the devil is in the details, but when is a detail one too many? I wrote a scene describing a guest room. My editor commented that it read like a furniture catalogue. Harsh? Maybe, but point taken. I removed more than half of the décor details and distributed the rest via the heroine’s actions as she moved about the room. Job done.

Now that this blog job is done, I will visit these authors to see how they deal with info dumps.

 Anne Stenhouse http://annestenhousenovelist.wordpress.com

Connie Vines http://mizging.blogspot.com/

Helena Fairfax http://www.helenafairfax.com/blog

Diane Bator http://dbator.blogspot.ca/

Skye Taylor http://www.skye-writer.com/blogging_by_the_sea

Bob Rich https://wp.me/p3Xihq-3i8

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

How Do You Deal With Stress?

 

For our Round Robin blog July topic, Skye Taylor asked about stress in our lives and how it affects our writing, or do you write in spite of it?

Let’s face it – who doesn’t have stress these days? In a nutshell, whether it’s the economy,politics, our health, news from the latest war zone, or dealing with the daily commute, everyone can experience stress. Science has proved that stress is bad for our hearts and blood pressure, plus a multitude of other physical issues, from migraines to panic attacks, fatigue to nausea, and can ultimately affect our immune systems.

Yes, medication can and does help alleviate symptoms of stress, as does yoga and meditation, along with learning to breathe correctly. But it takes regular daily practice, and that’s time not everyone wants to spare in their busy lives.

While stress can cause one to become indecisive along with a lack of concentration, the upside of stress for me is that it sharpens my focus. I am a procrastinator. I can look at the calendar and think, I have plenty of time to do that. Of course, regardless of what I have planned out on the calendar, life tends to happen in all its wonderful and not-so-wonderful ways. Then, it’s down to the wire with what I must get done in an even more specific time frame. Then the blinkers go on, and I zone out from everything around me and concentrate on the work.

It’s probably not the best way to work. The sensible way would be to write something, or several things, daily. In summer, that would be early in the morning. It could be any time of day in winter, but most likely afternoons. But then the sun shines, or a friend suggests meeting for hot chocolate, and there I go again.

However, once I have a work in progress, I get carried along on the crest of the story wave. Excitement rather than stress fuels my mind as I finish one chapter after another. If I need to take a break for some extra research or a lunch date, I take it, but don’t stress about it. I firmly believe that the art of writing isn’t always in the definitive butt in chair, fingers on keyboard maxim, but in what swirls around in our agile minds while we walk, doodle on a drinks mat, or do mundane chores. Laundry, anyone? Stressing about stress doesn’t help, but knowing what stresses you and taking appropriate action to alleviate it does, whether it is yoga, a spa night, or a walk in the park.

I’m interested to learn what my fellow bloggers say on the subject. I’m sure I can learn something from them.

 

Judith Copek - http://lynx-sis.blogspot.com/ 

Anne Stenhouse - http://annestenhousenovelist.wordpress.com 

Helena Fairfax - http://www.helenafairfax.com/blog 

Fiona McGier http://www.fionamcgier.com/ 

Skye Taylor - http://www.skye-writer.com/blogging_by_the_sea 

 

 

Point of View

For the month of April, Skye Taylor has asked us Round Robin bloggers what our favourite point of view to write and/or read is and why. What advantages might Omniscient, third-person, or first-person offer? What might be the disadvantages?

What writer doesn't love the intricacies of POV! I’m being a little facetious here because when I started writing, I found point of view to be the most challenging aspect of the craft to master. My critique partners and beta readers still pick me up on it, but I usually have it right rather than wrong these days. First, here’s a quick look at what POV is.

First person – indicated by I/me/my. Stories written in first person can create a closeness between readers and the character telling the story, but it is limited to that character. The characters must be able to portray themselves as likeable or sympathetic or risk losing the reader. Think Jayne Eyre, or Ishmael from Herman Melville’s Moby Dick. If it is written well, as by my personal favourite Dick Francis, it can take the reader on a roller coaster ride.

Second person – You/your. These are often self-help books like The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle or Deepak Chopra’s books. Or think of any recipe you have ever read. You take 1 cup of sugar and add it to your flour. I’m sure you get the point. This point of view can not only surprise the reader but also stretch the writer’s skills because you must focus on writing it well.

Third person limited - She/he, her/his. The narrator is outside the story, relating the characters' experiences, and various characters can tell the story. I have always liked Maeve Binchy’s books as it was always clear which of her characters' points of view she was in.

Third person omniscient – She/he. The narrator tells the story through all the characters by having access to their thoughts and experiences and often has information that none of the characters know. Unless done well, this can become messy and confusing to your reader.

Regardless of the character’s point of view you write from, it is best to establish it as early in your work as possible. Sometimes, it can be from the first line, but it should be established in the first two paragraphs, giving your reader direction into your story and a solid framework from which to start.

Because I write historical and contemporary romance, my favourite point of view to read and write is that of third person limited. It is a way to broaden the scope of my stories because I can spread the plot across two or three points of view. If I want to deepen a character’s point of view, I will write a scene in first person, in longhand, which might sound laborious but works for me as I think it gives my readers a deeper, more emotional connection to that character in whatever situation I've landed them.

Now to see what my fellow bloggers have to say.

 

Bob Rich - https://wp.me/p3Xihq-3aE

Connie Vines http://mizging.blogspot.com/

Diane Bator https://escapewithawriter.wordpress.com/

Helena Fairfax http://www.helenafairfax.com/blog

Skye Taylor http://www.skye-writer.com/blogging_by_the_sea

Before We Begin

This month's blog topic is Research for Your Novel - Love it or hate it? How important is it for your writing?

Oh, where to begin? First, for me, I have to say it is supremely important. As a writer of historical romantic fiction, I could not imagine having written any of my books without a great deal of research. The fact that I have always been a reader helped enormously when I needed to go down the rabbit hole of research.

I say rabbit hole because I’m easily sidetracked by weird and wonderful snippets of history—a subject I really did not like and, therefore, paid little attention to when I was at school. Dates and the succession of kings made no impression on me, but as an adult, I was drawn into historical fiction because of the characters that populated those stories and, subsequently, the details of the fabric of their lives.

However, it wasn’t historical fiction that started me collecting odd facts about peoples' lives, but a contemporary Western romance. I knew nothing of ranches and rodeos and thought the best way to find out was to talk to people who did. Ranchers and working cowboys were brilliant—they somehow managed to keep straight faces while answering this city gal’s probably silly questions. I have written three contemporary Western romances now, and each one needed someone’s input.

For Loving That Cowboy, I needed to know about steer wrestling and conducted a telephone interview with a top Canadian performer. For Legacy of Love, I pulled on conversations I’d had with stock contractor Harvey Northcott, who just happened to have two Australian bull riders staying with him for that year’s rodeo season. I knew nothing about grain bins, so after an online search, I contacted a company that made them. In Loving Georgia Caldwell, I needed to know about growing hay, and for this, my next-door neighbour, Don Hunt, was a valuable source. Sadly, Don is no longer with us, having recently passed after a long illness.

Research for my WWI novella, Shell Shocked, took me to the Imperial War Museum in London, UK. I considered it a privilege to read the actual, often poignant and moving, letters written by soldiers from the trenches. Although some letters were heavily censored, the writer’s thoughts, hopes, and fears were revealed in stark black handwriting. My Regency research came with its own background as I grew up surrounded by the elegance of Regency architecture in an area of Bristol, UK. More information was gleaned from the novels of Georgette Heyer as regards fabrics and costumes, manners, and what was expected from those gracing the upper echelons of society.

Royal York Crescent, Clifton

My daughter and I had a wonderful day at the Costume Museum in Bath, including playing dress up. The costumes were handmade as they would have been, from fabrics either the same or similar to those available during the Regency. Even though my daughter is slim and trim, the corsets were not big enough for her, which only emphasized how tiny women were in that era. About the only thing we could both try on were the bonnets, which we did.

People truly are the greatest source of information, as a website or book cannot speak to you in the same way. I wanted to know what living in pre-war Montreal was like, so I spent nearly a whole day with a lovely lady with whom I connected via a local seniors’ centre. She wasn’t sure how she could help me, so I asked her to describe a typical day in the life of her and her family. The images she depicted were vivid and fun, and I wrote notes like crazy. A little of that interview crept into Legacy of Love.

Of all the research I have done for my books, the most surprising was on my doorstep. In His Unexpected Muse, Lord Peter Skeffington is a closet writer of romance novels and is published by the Minerva Press. I needed to know how writers of that era phrased their writing and what style, if any, was common. When I started an online search, I discovered the University of Alberta’s library in Edmonton housed an extensive collection of Minerva Press books in their Bruce Peel Special Collections library. I contacted them and was invited to view the collection. On arrival, there was a library cart with my name displayed, already stocked with the books I had requested. That was so special.

I have made use of YouTube videos to learn how to sail a schooner, set a broken leg, repair a torn rotator cuff, and cut cattle. I spent hours in the archives of the Whyte Museum of the Canadian Rockies and the public library in Banff when I was researching Brides of Banff Springs. I returned home with fourteen books to read, having discovered that I could drop them off at my local library when I was finished. An interesting side to this is that I recently learnt that my accountant loves this book and has read it several times. She also has a familial connection to one of the real-life characters I refer to, Herb Paris, which makes it all the more real and special to her.

Books on my shelves reflect my research, from A History of the Wife to The Age of Agony, Piracy, The Complete Servant and more, and I know I can get carried away with where research takes me. After a discussion during a workshop years ago on how much research is too much research, the presenter said, “Vicki, forget the research and write the damn book.” Sage advice, but darn it, I need to know this stuff before I start writing so that I can give my characters a bigger, broader stage on which to play their parts.

You can join me in learning what my fellow Round Robin bloggers have to say here:

Diane Bator  https://escapewithawriter.wordpress.com/

Anne Stenhouse  http://annestenhousenovelist.wordpress.com

Dr. Bob Rich  https://wp.me/p3Xihq-398

Connie Vines  http://mizging.blogspot.com/

Helena Fairfax  http://www.helenafairfax.com/blog

Skye Taylor  http://www.skye-writer.com/blogging_by_the_sea